Siddha Covid care centre opened at Periyar Thidal

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Chennai: A Siddha Covid care centre, comprising 41 beds, was inaugurated in Periyar Maniammai hospital at Periyar Thidal in Vepery on Tuesday. It is the first Siddha Covid care centre to be inaugurated in the state at a time when the spread of Covid and Omicron variant is on the rise, an official press release said.

Health minister Ma Subramanian said that the guidelines for people infected with Omicron variant have been released.

Pointing out that those with mild Omicron symptoms, who fully vaccinated, can isolate at their homes, he said, they can return to their routine duty after five days following a negative RT-PCR test.

TNN

 

Make a list of rowdies to target, Tambaram police chief tells team

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TIMES NEWS NETWORK

05.01.2022

Chennai: Tambaram Commissioner of Police (CoP) M Ravi, in a move tocrack down on criminal elements prowling in the suburban areas, has ordered his subordi- nates to prepare a list of active history-sheeters in localities under the commissionerate.

While notorious criminals and gang leaders would be categorised as A+, their close associates would fall under the A category. Other criminals would be grouped under B and C categories, based on their records.

The commissioner, who has begun inspections at Pallavaram, Tambaram, and Shankar Nagar, has asked his subordinates to ready the list, which should also include the names of those arrested, on bail, absconding, with non-bailable warrants, and those detained under the Goondas Act. Afew of the notorious history-sheeters in the localities include extortionists Padappai Guna and Nedungundram Surya.

Also, lists of ganja sellers, perpetrators of crimes against women and children, and those organising kangaroo courts are being prepared separately. Police will also closely examine the history-sheeters’ recent criminal activities and action will be taken accordingly. "In- structions have been issued to personnel in this regard. Intelligence gathering and vigilance will also be strengthened. Kangaroo courts and goondaism will soon end," said the CoP said.

Apart from this, he said, police are focussing on traffic regulations and Pongal bandobust preparations, especially on the traffic snarls expected at Perungalathur during Pongal days. Moreover, the commissionerate has rolled out an additional phone number, 8525007100, for the public to lodge their complaints. This phone number is apart from the common police control-room number of 100.

The Tambaram commissionerate will function with two police districts -Tambaram and Pallikaranai – and have 20 police stations under it.

 

DGE: Upload details of students of Classes X, XI

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TIMES NEWS NETWORK

05.01.2022

Chennai: The Directorate of Government Examinations (DGE) on Monday asked all schools in Tamil Nadu to upload the details of students of Class X and XI who will appear for board exams on or before January 19.

Schools were asked to verify details like name, date of birth, photo, gender, caste and religion, parents' names, mobile number and upload the same on the official portal of DGE. "If there are any mistakes in the data, the class teacher and headmaster should be held responsible," the circular from DGE warned.

Students who are studying in Tamil medium and SC, SCA, ST students are exempted from paying the exam fees. Students from BC, BCM category also will get exemption from paying the exam fees if the annual income of their parents is less than ₹2. 5 lakh.

Class X students need to pay ₹115 as the exam fee while Class XI students along with practical exams need to pay ₹225.

 

Labour court asks firm to reinstate employee

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TIMES NEWS NETWORK

05.01.2022

Chennai: A city labour court has directed the management of a Chennai-based tractor and agriculture equipment manufacturing company to reinstate and pay all benefits including back wages and other monetary benefits to a senior employee in the company who, according to him was forced to resign.

The court noted that no domestic inquiry was conducted and cited higher court verdicts to point out that the management is not supposed to act on its whims and fancies.

Manish (name changed) of Perambur joined the firm in 2004 and became COO. On March 8, 2017, he was asked by a HR manager to resign failing which he would be terminated. When he withdrew his resignation which he signed due to force, a showcause notice was issued alleging the petitioner indulged in illegal gratification and misappropriated company funds of ₹1. 2 lakh.

The petitioner said the alleged incident happened in April 2015, but the showcause notice was issued after two years, which is an afterthought from the management and a fabricated charge. After perusing all submissions, presiding officer A Geetha held the domestic enquiry was not conducted properly and directed the management to reinstate the petitioner with back wages and also compensate him for the legal proceedings.

 

NEWS DIGEST

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Rly partially cancels 2 trains, diverts 1 

Southern railway has partially cancelled two trains and diverted one due to engineering work on Chennai Egmore – Villupuram section. Madurai Chennai Egmore Superfast Express Special (12636) leaving Madurai at 7am on January 5 and 19 will run only up to Villupuram. Chennai Egmore Karaikudi Pallavan Express Special (12605) leaving Chennai Egmore at 3. 45pm on January 5 and 19 will depart from Villupuram at 6. 10 pm. Puducherry – New Delhi Express Special (22403) leaving Puducherry junction at 9. 50am on January 5 and 19 will be diverted via Villupuram, Katpadi, Perambur and Gudur and will skip the stoppage at Chennai Egmore. 

Two held for robbing student of mobile: Two men were arrested for robbing a college student of a mobile phone at MKB Nagar on Monday. Police said Vijayakumar, 16, was walking down the road when two men snatched his mobile and escaped on December 25. Based on his complaint, police arrested Suryah, 21, and Asif, 21. Meanwhile at Otteri, a robber snatched a mobile and ₹3,000 from Jai Ganesh, 35, on Monday. Based on Ganesh’s complaint, police have launched a search for the suspect. 

₹25L donated for Army martyrs’ families: Octogenarian V Sriraman and his wife Ann PHF Akhila Sriraman donated ₹25 lakh towards the welfare of family members of Army martyrs. The couple handed over a cheque to Lt. Colonel, Cdr. A. Arun, GOC, Dakshin Bharat, a press release said. Sriraman said that he will be paying ₹75 lakh in July for the same cause as he wanted to give a total of ₹1 crore, the release added. 

Change of terminus for 15 bus route services: Fifteen bus route services that ply to different areas of north Chennai and depart from the High Court terminus will be operated from the Broadway terminus from Wednesday. The list of routes includes 4, 4M, 8B, 8B Extn, 38A, 38H, 38G, 44, 44C, 44 Cut, 57D, 57H, 57J, 57M and 57F, a MTC press release said.

 

Dismiss university officials who are irresponsible: HC

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TIMES NEWS NETWORK

5.-1.2022

Chennai: It is painful to record that the University of Madras has lost its reputation in a rapid manner, the Madras high court has said while suggesting ‘capital (maximum) punishment’ to officials who fail to maintain absolute integrity and devotion to duty.

“Such irresponsible officials should be dismissed from service and their dereliction should be entered into their service register, so that their promotions and other benefits should be deprived,” a division

“It is apposite to mention here that appropriate disciplinary proceedings for capital punishment shall be initiated against officials for not maintaining absolute integrity and devotion to duty, which is unbecoming of a member of the service,” the court added. “In olden days, it was very proud to say that the degree was obtained from the Madras University and was, once upon a time, regarded as a precious one. The existence of such a reputation in the present days is a million-dollar question,” said the judges.

The court made the observations while allowing an appeal moved by the university challenging an order passed by a single judge of the court dated October 23, 2017. The single judge had ordered promotion for a technical officer as an assistant librarian. The petitioner stated that he had been purposely denied promotion to accommodate his juniors.

Allowing the appeal moved by the university, the court made it clear that the original petitioners are not entitled to promotion to the post of assistant librarian, unless they succeed to such status in the manner prescribed by the UGC.

City braces for pressure for beds as cases rise

Pic: TOI  Pushpa.Narayan@timesgroup.com

05.01.2022

The number of Covid-19 patients occupying hospital beds has increased by nearly two times over the last one month with a steady increase in daily and active cases in the city. More than one-fifth of the oxygen beds in the state are now occupied compared to 6% a month ago.

On Monday, 1,754 of the 4,269 activeCovid-19 patients were admitted to hospitals across the city compared to 507 patients a month ago on December 3. On Tuesday, inpatient tally rose to 1,931. With this, nearly 14% of total beds in the state were occupied compared to 4% a month ago. At least 1,015 patients were occupying the oxygen beds in the city on Tuesday,ascompared to 172 on December 3.

“We are not running out of beds, oxygen or doctors. But medical experts have told us that if cases continue to grow at this rate, the health system may be overwhelmed,” said state health secretary J Radhakrishnan.

“More people are occupying beds that have oxygen pipelines more as precaution than requirement,” said director of medical education Dr R Narayanababu, who administers all the government medical college hospitals in the state. “Admissions in both oxygen and nonoxygen beds have increased over the past few days in Chennai.   

However, most patients have mild symptoms and do not require oxygen therapy or ICU admissions,” he said. The oxygen requirement for medical college hospitals have in fact come down from 65. 7metric tonnes to 60. 6 MT, he said. Doctors from across the globe showed that the infections are mild, affecting the bronchi and not invading into the lungs. “The rate of infection may be much lesser, but if absolute numbers are phenomenally high even 0. 5% hospitalisation can be a burden on the health system,” said WHO chief scientist Dr Soumya Swaminathan, who is on the state’s expert medical panel. 

Althoughoccupancy in ICU and requirement for ventilators did not go up rapidly, doctors say the requirement for such admissions can be seen only after 7 to 10 days. “If more people with co-morbid conditions are infected, ICU admissions will increase too,” said Dr Subramanian Swaminathan,infectious diseases expert, Gleneagles Global Hospitals. For the last one week, Chennai has added between 45-50% of the daily cases recorded by the state. While the city continues to see patients carrying the Delta variant, there is a community spreadof Omicron varianttoo, said health minister Ma Subramanian.

New clusters emerging from city hospitals, workplaces and educational institutions have pushed up the test positive rate – number of people tested positive over total number of people tested -beyond 1%. The infection reproduction rate or R-naught has also crossed 1—an indication that the infection will increase, spreading through the population.

 

Docs concerned over delay in admissions

05.01.2022

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T he resident doctors have genuine concerns over the delay in admissions to PG medical courses, which have been delayed because of the pendency of the cases and the Centre’s decision to revisit the EWS criteria, he said.

The Centre was virtually forced to constitute a highlevel three-member committee headedby for mer finance secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey on being prodded by the SC, which had posed probing questions about the sanctity of the criteria. The committee gave its report on December 31 and recom- mended sticking to the ₹8 lakh annual income cut-off criteria for a candidate to be categorised as EWS.

The government said it has accepted the Pandey Committee recommendations, including continuance of ₹8 lakh annual income limit. The Committee had said that the EWS income criteria may appear similar to the criteria for creamy layer amongOBCs at first blush, but it was very different.

The committee said that the “EWS may, however exclude, irrespective of income, a person whose family has 5 acres of agricultural land and above”.

 

Omicron-like strain that also shows S-gene drop detected

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Umesh.Isalkar@timesgroup.com

05.01.2022

Pune: The SARS-CoV-2’s C. 36. 3. 1variant carrying Omicron-like genetic variation has been identified for the first time in India, a senior scientist of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) told TOI on Tuesday.

The variant, earlier reported from some European countries, is detectable with existing diagnostics. However, its identical Omicron-like S-gene target dropout/failure is likely to muddle the use of specialised RT-PCR test kits currently being utilised to sift probable Omicron cases from the daily caseload for “accelerated genome sequencing” to track the extent of community spread of Omicron in the country.

“For the first time in India, we have identified C. 36. 3. 1 that is neither a variant of concern nor of interest or under investigation as of now. It is only a part of the WHO’s list of monitored variants,” the scientist said.

The mutations carried by the C. 36. 3. 1 make it a variant that should be followed. “The C. 36. 3. 1 has a total of 36 defining mutations, of which nine are in the Spike (S) gene region as against 32 mutations identified in the S-gene of Omicron variant, which has a total of 52 mutations,” the scientist said.

 

Docs & paramedics put out of action, experts fear pressure on health infra

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TIMES NEWS NETWORK

05.01.2022

New Delhi: As India witnesses the third wave of Covid-19 led by Omicron variant, a large number of frontline workers, including doctors, paramedics, police and health department officials, in several cities across the country are turning out to be Covid positive. Experts have voiced concern that this might put pressure on the healthcare infrastructure.

In Delhi, 68 healthcare workers, including 15 doctors, at AIIMS and 49 health staff at Safdarjung reported positive. Lady Hardinge Medical College, Ram Manohar Lohia, Hindu Rao, Lok Nayak and Ambedkar hospitals have also reported multiple cases among their staff members. At Lucknow’s Medanta Hospital, 33 health workers, including one emergency medical officer (EMO), turned out to be Covid positive. Director Dr Rakesh Kapoor said, “Except for the EMO, all the others were nurses or nursing assistants. They all were asymptomatic at the time of testing. No patient or attendant has been affected because of them. ”

In Patiala’s Government Medical College and Hospital, the authorities made students vacate hostels after over105 faculty members and students, including 18 senior doctors and 48 junior residents, tested positive.

In Gaya, altogether 102 med- icos at Anugrah Narayan Magadh Medical College and Hospital (ANMMCH) tested positive on Tuesday. ANMMCH principal Arjun Chaudhary said offline classes have been suspended and the library has also been closed. “All the medicos, who have tested positive, are in isolation,” he said. spared other frontline workers, including policemen and bureaucrats. Around a dozen police personnel, including additional director generals and inspector generals, have tested positive in Jharkahnd.

Four IAS officers of Gujarat cadre, including two health & family welfare department officials, also tested positive.

In Chhattisgarh, IG Sanjeev Shukla and DIGs Vineet Khanna and Rajesh Agrawal tested positive. The authorities fear a spurt of Corona cases in the police HQ. In Maoist-hit Kanker district of Chhattisgarh, five SSB personnel were found infected in Kanhargaon on Tuesday, to add to the 38 CoBRA commandos who tested positive in Sukma on Monday.

 

‘Omicron variant has significant growth advantage over Delta’

05.01.2022

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“All pandemic indices have raised a red flag. The infection willnow continueto increase. We still have lots of unvaccinated people among the elderly. Worse, we continue to see people recklessly violating pan- demic norms. We can’t give up on masks and social distancing norms now,” said National Instituteof Epidemiology deputy director Dr Prabhdeep Kaur.

On Tuesday, Tamil Nadu reported 2,731 fresh Covid-19 infections, a 58% jump from the 1,728 it logged on Monday. Hotspot Monday.

“Omicron has a significant growthadvantage over Delta, spreading fast through communities with a doubling time of just two days,” health secretary J Radhakrishnan said on Tuesday.

The risk of transmission among close contacts, including family members, is muchhigher compared to all other variants.

“The overall risk related to the new variant is very high. Hospitalisationof the vaccinated is close to 1%, while it is 10% among those who are unvaccinated,” he said.

Private laboratories must inform health officials of positive cases’

Private laboratories must inform health officials of positive cases’

05/01/2022

Special Correspondent CHENNAI

All private laboratories approved by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) have been asked to immediately notify local health officials of all COVID-19 positive cases so that containment measures can be taken, according to the Directorate of Public Health and Preventive Medicine.

Director of Public Health T.S. Selvavinayagam on Tuesday conducted a review of the performance of these laboratories through video-conference. They were told to collect only the prescribed fees, avoid pooling of samples and update all data on the ICMR portal.

He said healthcare workers should be protected because of the high rate of transmissibility of the Omicron variant of the novel coronavirus. Surprise checks with an inventory audit would be done, if needed. All standard operating procedures should be followed to ensure the quality of investigations and more human resources should be engaged to avoid any backlog when the number of tests increased, he said.

HC order on plea against Air India sale tomorrow

HC order on plea against Air India sale tomorrow

Disinvestment process was challenged

05/01/2022

Soibam Rocky Singh New Delhi

The Delhi High Court will pronounce on Thursday its decision on a plea by BJP leader Subramanian Swamy challenging the Air India disinvestment process in which the Tatas emerged as the highest bidder at ₹18,000 crore.

A Bench of Chief Justice D.N. Patel and Justice Jyoti Singh said, “We will pass orders the day after,” while asking the parties involved in the case to submit their written responses by Wednesday.

Mr. Swamy, who appeared in person, sought a direction to the government to quash the present Air India disinvestment process, terming it “arbitrary, unconstitutional, unfair” and “rigged in favour of the Tatas”. He said the only other bidder in the process was a consortium led by the owner of SpiceJet, which was facing insolvency proceedings in the Madras High Court and thus could not have bid.

Solicitor-General Tushar Mehta contested the petition, saying disinvestment was a policy decision that could not be contested in courts. He argued that though SpiceJet was facing insolvency proceedings, it was never part of the consortium that bid for Air India. “It was led by its owner Ajay Singh,” he added.

Mr. Swamy in his petition argued that the disinvestment of Air India by way of transfer of management control and sale of 100% of its equity shares held by Government of India to Talace Private Ltd. was against the interests of national integrity and security. “The Tatas are very much a part of Air Asia,” he said.

Mr. Mehta said that Talace, a wholly owned subsidiary of Tata Sons Private Ltd., which won the Air India bid, had nothing to do with Air Asia.

He said any case Air Asia faced in the past was irrelevant here.

Senior advocate Harish Salve, representing the Tatas, said the successful bidder here was a 100% Indian company owned 100% by an Indian.

Denial of FCRA to MoC challenged

Denial of FCRA to MoC challenged

05/01/2022

Legal Correspondent NEW DELHI

A U.S.-incorporated organisation, Global Peace Initiative, and its founder, evangelist K.A. Paul, have approached the Supreme Court challenging the refusal of the government to renew the registration of Mother Teresa's Missionaries of Charity under the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA).

The registration was not renewed purportedly on the basis of some “adverse inputs”, the writ petition said. “The cancellation of the license of a renowned charitable organisation like the Missionaries of Charity on vague grounds such as 'adverse inputs' will have a chilling effect on all other Non- Governmental Organisations,” it said.

The plea has also urged the court to quash the government's direction to not renew the registration of “close to 6,000 NGOs”.

Permission denied for Karunanidhi’s statue, Tiruppur Collector tells HC

Permission denied for Karunanidhi’s statue, Tiruppur Collector tells HC

05/01/2022

Legal Correspondent CHENNAI

Tiruppur Collector on Tuesday informed the Madras High Court that he has rejected an application made by a legislator representing Tiruppur South Assembly constituency seeking permission to install a statue of former Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi near the railway station bus stop in the city. The Collector said the decision was taken in view of a 2013 Supreme Court order against erection of statues on busy road junctions.

Justice S.M. Subramaniam recorded the submission made by Additional Government Pleader M. Rajendiran on behalf of the Collector and closed all further proceedings on the issue. The judge had called for an explanation from the official after Atchaya Thirumuruga Dinesh, who claimed to be the State president of Shivsena, wrote a letter to the judge complaining about the plan to install the former Chief Minister’s statue at a place prone to road accidents.

The author of the letter had requested the judge to initiate suo motu contempt of court proceedings since he had in October 2021 ordered creation of leaders’ parks across the State to shift over there all the statues that pose a threat to road safety. However, the Collector told the court that the MLA had filed the application on August 24, 2021 and it was rejected on September 15, much before the judge passed orders with respect to shifting of statues on October 7.

Six medicos suspended in ragging case

Six medicos suspended in ragging case

05/01/2022

Staff Reporter HYDERABAD

A day after a committee was formed to inquire into allegations of ragging at Government Medical College, Suryapet in Telangana, six second year MBBS students were suspended for a year and permanently barred from hostel. Orders to this effect were issued by principal of the Medical College C.V. Sarada on Tuesday based on the directions issued by the Director of Medical Education (DME).

Currently, there are only two batches of the MBBS students at the newly established medical college. A first-year MBBS student has lodged a complaint with the college authorities stating that senior students made him to kneel and spoken rudely to him, on January 1.

The police said that they too have launched investigation into the complaint.

Tamil Nadu posts sharp increase in fresh COVID-19 infections

Tamil Nadu posts sharp increase in fresh COVID-19 infections

05/01/2022

Kancheepuram and Tiruppur reported 54 fresh cases each, while there were 49 persons tested positive in Salem and 43 in Kanniyakumari. Thoothukudi recorded 42 cases, while there were 41 cases in Erode. Mayiladuthurai was the only district with no fresh case and 14 districts reported fewer than 10 cases each.

Chennai, Chengalpattu, Coimbatore, Tiruvallur, Tiruppur, Erode, Kancheepuram, Salem, Thoothukudi and Vellore were the districts of concern, based on the high caseload, officials said.

As many as 48 persons who returned from abroad and other States were among those who tested positive. The fresh cases took the State’s overall tally to 27,55,587.

The State recorded nine deaths, taking the toll to 36,805. There were no COVID-19 deaths in 31 districts. Chennai recorded no fatalities, while there were two deaths each in Tiruvallur and Tiruchi and one death each in Kanniyakumari, Karur, Mayiladuthurai, the Nilgiris and Vellore.

The surge pushed the State’s active caseload to 12,412, with Chennai’s count crossing 5,000. There were 5,593 active cases in the city, followed by 1,175 active cases in Chengalpattu. The bed occupancy was quickly rising at Chennai’s COVID-19 health centres and hospitals. A total of 1,015 oxygen beds and 818 non-oxygen beds were occupied.

A total of 674 persons were discharged. This took the total number of recovered patients to 27,06,370. The number of confirmed Omicron cases remained at 121. Of them, 108 persons were discharged.

Chief Minister M.K. Stalin on Tuesday chaired a meeting at the Secretariat to review the COVID-19 situation in the State. The rising number of cases was discussed in detail.

The meeting discussed whether the existing restrictions were sufficient, or if more curbs were necessary, official sources said. An official word on what transpired at the meeting is likely to be issued on Wednesday, the sources added.

Health Minister Ma. Subramanian, Chief Secretary V. Irai Anbu, Director-General of Police C. Sylendra Babu and senior officials were present at the meeting.

Madras HC flags University of Madras' waning stature, issues warning

Madras HC flags University of Madras' waning stature, issues warning

A bench of Justices S Vaidyanathan and AA Nakkiran made the observation while passing orders on writ appeal over promotion of technical staff to assistant librarian posts.

Published: 05th January 2022 04:54 AM |

By Express News Service

CHENNAI: A bench of the Madras High Court on Tuesday deplored the waning reputation of the University of Madras (UoM) and said disciplinary proceedings for ‘capital punishment’ must be initiated against university officials who are devoid of integrity and devotion to duty.

A bench of Justices S Vaidyanathan and AA Nakkiran made the observation while passing orders on writ appeal over promotion of technical staff to assistant librarian posts. The court said a degree from the university was once considered precious, but it is a million dollar question now whether the institute still enjoys that reputation.

The court said, “... appropriate disciplinary proceedings for capital punishment shall be initiated against officials for not maintaining absolute integrity and devotion to duty which is unbecoming of a member of the service and such irresponsible officials should be dismissed from service....”

The bench said the court’s remarks on dereliction of duty should be entered into their service register so that they could be deprived of promotions and other benefits and wanted the umbrella of moral turpitude to be widened to deprive them gratuity too.

The judges said there was no other option but to interfere with the single judge’s order, which has no legs to stand, as the court does not want to continue the illegality forever and two wrongs cannot make a right.

The issue came up after S Baskaran, an assistant technical officer, moved the court saying that he was not considered for promotion while his juniors were promoted to the post of assistant librarian. A single judge had ordered that Baskaran’s name be considered for promotion.

NEET-PG admissions: Union govt seeks urgent hearing of EWS quota case

 NEET-PG admissions: Union govt seeks urgent hearing of EWS quota case

Large-scale protests have been held by resident doctors over a delay in the NEET-PG counselling, which has been postponed due to the government deciding to revisit the criteria for the determination of the EWS quota.

NEWS COURT MONDAY, JANUARY 03, 2022 - 12:10

PTI Follow @PTI_News

The Union government has requested the Supreme Court on Monday, January 3, to schedule a hearing in a matter related to the Economically Weaker Section (EWS) quota in connection with the NEET-PG admissions on Tuesday, citing "some urgency." A bench of Justices DY Chandrachud and AS Bopanna told Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, who mentioned the matter before the court on behalf of the Union government, that the EWS quota matter is being heard by a three-judge bench of the top court.

"The moment today's work gets over, I would make a request to CJI NV Ramana for the listing of the case," Justice Chandrachud said. Mehta said if it is not possible to list the matter on Tuesday, then it could be listed on Wednesday. Senior advocate Arvind Datar, appearing in court on behalf of the doctors who have challenged a government notification for the implementation of the quota, said he has no objection if the matter is listed on Tuesday or Wednesday. The matter at present is listed for hearing on January 6.

Large-scale protests have been held by resident doctors of various hospitals under the banner of the Federation of Resident Doctors' Association (FORDA) in Delhi and other parts of the country over a delay in the NEET-PG counselling, which has been postponed due to the Union government deciding to revisit the criteria for the determination of the EWS quota.Featured Videos from TNM

In its affidavit filed in the apex court, the Union government has said it has decided to accept the recommendations of a three-member panel to retain the current gross annual family income limit for the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS) at Rs 8 lakh or less.

The government has also told the court that according to the panel, family income is a "feasible criterion" for defining EWS and in the current situation, a threshold of Rs 8 lakh of annual family income seems reasonable for determining EWS.

In its affidavit filed in a matter related to admissions for NEET-PG, the Union government has said the panel has recommended that "only those families whose annual income is up to Rs 8 lakh would be eligible to get the benefit of the EWS reservation."

Physical attendance of govt servants restricted to 50%, biometric attendance discontinued

Physical attendance of govt servants restricted to 50%, biometric attendance discontinued

TNN | Jan 3, 2022, 09.41 PM IST

NEW DELHI: Taking cognisance of the surge in Covid-19 cases, the government on Monday re-introduced restrictions across all Central government offices, including cutting physical attendance of employees below the level of under-secretary to 50% with the other 50% working from home.

Biometric attendance, which was resumed in November 2021 after nearly one-and-a-half years, has also been discontinued in all Central government offices with immediate effect and until further notice, as per an order issued by the department of personnel and training on Monday.

Officers of the level of under-secretary and above, however, must attend office on a regular basis.

The fresh DoPT order exempts persons with disabilities and pregnant women employees from attending office, though they shall be required to work from home.

Staggered timings – from 9 am to 5.30 pm and from 10 am to 6.30 pm -- have been introduced once again in the Central government offices to avoid over-crowding. Government employees working from home must be available at all times on the telephone and email.

Officers and staff residing in areas marked as containment zones shall be exempted from coming to offices till such zones are de-notified.

Meetings, as per DoPT order, must be conducted via video-conferencing as far as possible and personal meetings and visitors, unless absolutely necessary, avoided.

Frequent sanitisation of workplace and wearing of masks, regular washing and sanitisation of hands and maintenance of social distancing by staff across all Central government offices has also been sought.

Centre Allows 50% Staff Below Under Secretary-Level To Work From Home

Centre Allows 50% Staff Below Under Secretary-Level To Work From Home

Persons with disabilities and pregnant women employees have been exempted from attending offices, said a Personnel Ministry order.

Updated: January 03, 2022 9:43 pm IST

New Delhi:

The Centre has allowed 50 per cent of its employees below the level of Under Secretary to work from home amid rising coronavirus cases, according to a Personnel Ministry order issued on Monday.

Persons with disabilities and pregnant women employees have been exempted from attending the offices, it said.

Central government officers/staff will have to follow staggered timing - 9 am to 5.30 pm and 10 am to 6.30 pm - to avoid overcrowding in the offices, the order said.

All the officers/staff residing in Covid containment zones have also been exempted from coming to office till containment zones are de-notified, it said in the order issued to all central government departments.

"Physical attendance of government servants below the level of Under Secretary shall be restricted to 50 per cent of the actual strength and the remaining 50 per cent shall work from home. A roster may be prepared accordingly by all the departments concerned," the order said.

All officers of the level of under secretary and above are to attend office on a regular basis, it said.

"Meeting, as far as possible, shall be conducted on video-conferencing and personal meetings with visitors, unless absolutely necessary in public interest, are to be avoided," the order said.

All officers/staff have to ensure strict compliance with Covid-appropriate behaviour viz. frequent washing of hands/sanitisation, wearing a mask/face cover, observing social distancing at all times, it said.

"Proper cleaning and frequent sanitisation of the workplace, particularly of the frequently touched surfaces may be ensured. HoDs may also ensure non-crowding in corridors, canteens, etc.," the order said.

Comments(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Prime accused held in fraud case involving Rs 70 lakhs worth government funds of Vellore BDO

Prime accused held in fraud case involving Rs 70 lakhs worth government funds of Vellore BDO

The beneficiaries, who went by the name of Vijayan and Jayakumar, were found to be receiving Rs 50 lakhs and Rs 20 lakhs respectively to their current accounts.

Published: 03rd January 2022 12:19 PM |

By Shyamsundar N

Express News Service

VELLORE: After almost seven weeks of investigation, Vellore Cyber Crime police arrested the prime accused in a financial fraud case involving government funds. The accused allegedly siphoned off Rs 70 lakh from the Block Development Office (BDO) in Katpadi by illegally accessing its portal.

On November 15, a BDO staff noticed something 'fishy' where two transactions under the 'noon-meal' salary category were made to two beneficiaries, successfully clearing the verification process without officials' knowledge.

The incident was reported to the police the same day and on November 17, Katpadi BDO Raghu lodged a complaint with the Cyber Crime police unit.

A preliminary probe launched by investigation officer J Abarna and the team found that the transactions were made by some fraudsters.

The beneficiaries, who went by the name of Vijayan and Jayakumar, were found to be receiving Rs 50 lakhs and Rs 20 lakhs respectively to their current accounts.

"We checked with the banks and found that there was a name mismatch in both the accounts. Due to the mismatch, the amount processed to Jayakumar account was frozen. However, Vijayan received it and before the bank froze his account, he managed to withdraw Rs 35,000, " investigation officer, Abarna, told TNIE

Real names come to light

The cybercrime unit formed a 12-member team including computer experts. During the investigation, the real names of the account holders were identified as Prabu and Poovarasan.

A police officer, who was part of the investigation team, said Prabu was running an e-service centre opposite Tirupattur bus stand. "Firstly, we identified three people to be involved in the crime. Prabu and Jeeva, who works at Prabu's centre and Poovarasan who is Jeeva's friend. Till that point, we didn't know another man existed and that he would turn out to be the prime accused. He was the main reason behind the whole fraudulent transaction," Abarna said.

Before the crime, he introduced himself as government staff and first approached Jeeva who was at the centre at that time. He said he can get them government funds and to do that he needed some 30% commission. To prove his words, he accessed the government portals with a unique ID and password, the investigation officer said.

Jeeva took this to Prabu who agreed to it and so did his friend Poovarasan. Further probe revealed the identity of the fourth person as Sampath Kumar. Using Call Detail Record (CDR), CCTV footage, and other intelligence, we tracked him from Vellore to Tirupattur, Pochampalli, and Erode, Abarna said.

During the investigation, we found that Sampath Kumar was not his real name and that he used it to deliberately hide his identity. He was identified as Mohan (24), a computer operator and a temporary staff at the BDO, Mecheri in Salem district.

There, he learned the unique ID and password of government staff and used this ID to commit the financial fraud after the staff was transferred to Katpadi BDO, the investigation officer said. He was arrested on December 31.

Over 10 litres of pus removed from cow after quack botches up treatment in Dharmapuri

 Over 10 litres of pus removed from cow after quack botches up treatment in Dharmapuri

The Krishi Vigyan Kendra scientists allege that wrong medication coupled with a contaminated needle resulted in a massive infection that had a paralysing effect on the cow.

Published: 03rd January 2022 04:20 PM |

By Express News Service

DHARMAPURI: Krishi Vigyan Kendra (KVK) veterinary researchers conducted a complicated surgery and removed over 10 litres of pus from a cow.

The KVK scientists allege that wrong medication coupled with a contaminated needle resulted in a massive infection that had a paralysing effect on the cow.

Sources said an affected farmer arrived at KVK on Thursday seeking treatment for his cattle. The animal, which was administered the wrong treatment, suffered from a severe infection. KVK researchers immediately decided to conduct a massive surgery and removed over 10 kg of infected tissues.

Sankaraiah, the farmer whose cow was treated, said, "Almost 15 days ago, my cow had not been eating properly and the milk production had also drastically reduced. I sought advice from a doctor, who turned out to be a quack. He administered some injection and in the days that followed, the condition of the cow went down. Shortly after, the animal's hind leg started swelling abnormally and the animal became paralysed. I approached the KVK centre in Papparapatti for treatment."

Animal Husbandry researcher Dr Thangadurai said, "I had inspected the animal and found that the cow had been immobile and it had stopped feeding because of a severe infection. The farmers had sought treatment from a quack doctor. Not only had this quack provided the wrong treatment, but he has also injected the cow with a contaminated needle which led to a small cyst leading to a massive infection."

He added that after a nearly 12-hour effort, the pus was removed from the body of the cow and the infected areas was treated. Dr Thagadurai said he had witnessed a surge in such cases for the past few months. If farmers are not vigilant, they may lose their cow which are easily worth between Rs 50,000 and Rs 70,000 to quack doctors, he pointed out.

When contacted, KVK Project Director Dr Vijayakumar, said, "Most of the farmers are cheated by an inseminator, who poses as a doctor. They offer medical advice without checking the doctor’s background. During the recent FMD outbreak, many animals died at the hands of quack doctors."

Farmers need to investigate the doctors before seeking treatment from them, he advised.

Meanwhile, over the past few weeks, the Animal Husbandry Department officials and the KVK have been spreading awareness among the farmers on the need to be on guard from quack veterinarians to prevent wrong treatment that could permanently incapacitate or kill animals.

Ex- Anna varsity V-C Surappa to get probe report? Govt gets week to reply

Ex- Anna varsity V-C Surappa to get probe report? Govt gets week to reply

Subsequently, the judge asked Advocate General R Shanmugasundaram to file a reply on the matter by January 10.

Published: 04th January 2022 04:22 AM 

Former Anna University Vice Chancellor MK Surappa 

By Express News Service

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court has directed the Tamil Nadu government to respond in a week on whether a copy of the report of the inquiry commission headed by Justice P Kalaiyarasan can be furnished to former Anna University vice-chancellor MK Surappa as he had sought.

When the petitions filed by Surappa challenging the order for holding a probe by constituting the commission came up for hearing before Justice V Parthiban on Monday, his counsel sought a copy of the inquiry commission’s report. He said if a copy is furnished, the former V-C would withdraw the petitions.

Subsequently, the judge asked Advocate General R Shanmugasundaram to file a reply on the matter by January 10. The government had already submitted the inquiry commission report to the court in a sealed cover.

After a showdown between Surappa and the previous AIADMK government, the Justice Kalaiyarasan commission was formed to probe the allegations of corruption and malpractice against him. Challenging the order to set up the inquiry commission, Surappa approached the high court. Later, the court restrained the State government from taking any action against him.

 

SC nod to urgent hearing in EWS quota criteria case

TNN | Jan 4, 2022, 02.43 AM IST

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Monday acceded to Centre’s request for urgent hearing on petitions challenging the validity of criteria for 10% Economically Weaker Section quota, judicial proceedings over which has held up admissions to PG medical seats leading to agitation by students.

Solicitor general Tushar Mehta infomed a bench headed by Justice DY Chandrachud that the committee headed by ex-finance secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey, which was tasked to revisit the criteria for candidate’s inclusion in EWS category, has already submitted its recommendations and that the Centre has filed the report before the court.

Justice Chandrachud said the matter would be required to be heard by a bench also comprising Justices Surya Kant and Vikram Nath, the latter two sitting in different compositions during first week of New Year, when the court is scheduled to hear fresh cases. Justice Chandrachud told Mehta that he would consult CJI and that there would be an endeavour to get EWS quota case listed for hearing this week.

The Centre on Sunday filed an affidavit in SC saying it would stick to the Rs 8 lakh annual income limit criteria for categorisation of EWS sections, entitled to 10% reservation in admissions to educational institutions, including medical colleges, and government jobs, but promised to tweak other EWS criteria a bit from next year.

The government said it has accepted the Pandey Committee report, which recommended continuance of Rs 8 lakh income limit with riders, after a detailed analysis of the criteria and differentiated it from the income criteria adopted to disentitle creamy layer among OBCs for quotas.

The committee said the “EWS may, however exclude, irrespective of income, a person whose family has 5 acres of agricultural land and above (as was included in the 2019 criteria which was challenged in the SC).” The change from the 2019 EWS norms would be exclusion of residential assets criteria.

 

SC agrees to expedite hearing on EWS quota criteria case

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TIMES NEWS NETWORK

New Delhi: 04.01.2022

The Supreme Court on Monday acceded to the Centre’s request for urgent hearing on the petitions challenging the validity of criteria for 10% Economically Weaker Section quota, judicial proceedings over which has held up admissions to the PG medical seats leading to agitation by students.

Solicitor general Tushar Mehta informed a bench headed by Justice D Y Chandrachud that the committee headed by former finance secretary Ajay Bhushan Pandey, which was tasked to revisit the criteria for candi date’s inclusion in EWS category, has already submitted its recommendations and that the Centre has filed the report before the court.

Justice Chandrachud said the matter would be required to be heard by a bench also comprising Justices Surya Kant and Vikram Nath, the latter two sitting in different composi- tions during the first week of New Year, when the court is scheduled to hear fresh cases.

However, Justice Chandrachud told the SG that he would consult the CJI and that there would be an endeavor to get the EWS quota case listed for hearing this week.

Full report on www. toi. in

Med aspirants anxious over long wait for counselling

 Med aspirants anxious over long wait for counselling

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Ragu.Raman@timesgroup.com

04.01.2022

Chennai:

With the MBBS and BDS counselling delayed by more than two months, medical aspirants are anxious that their wait to enter medical colleges may get even longer with the spurt of Covid-19 cases. Some candidates with high scores in NEET 2021 have already joined other courses while other toppers are worried about the possibility of having to study along with their juniors due to the extraordinary delay in medical admissions this year due to pending court cases and the pandemic.

Around 42,000 students have registered online for MBBS, BDS 2021-22 counselling while 33,000 students have sent their applications so far for the medical admissions. The last date for registering online is January 7. Ranjitha from Mylapore who scored above 600 marks in NEET 2021, has joined Anna University as a back-up plan. "Now, we are about to complete the first semester and reach the stage of assessment. It adds an extra-pressure to decide whether to continue in engineering or to join MBBS. There are many students like me," she said.

Students also worried about rushing through the first-year syllabus of MBBS due to the delay in the counselling. Anirudh, who has secured more than 650 marks in NEET 2021, said there was no information about the counselling though it had been four months since the NEET exam was held. "If the counselling starts now, we can plan accordingly," he said.

Dharani, a topper among government school students in NEET 2021, has already lost several months. "My brother is in Class XII. It seems both of us will start going to college at the same time," she said.

PV Ramachandran, course coordinator for medical programmes, FIITJEE, Chennai, said students who had done very well in NEET were now under stress due to delay in medical counselling. "Due to uncertainty, many parents are pressuring students to join other courses as a back-up," he said.

The National Medical Commission has postponed the counselling for all-India quota till the case regarding following EWS quota for All India  quota (AIQ) seats is decided by the Supreme Court. "We normally start counselling after the first round of counselling for AIQ seats is completed. This will give toppers an opportunity to choose seats from AIQ. So, it will give more seats to Tamil Nadu students," an official said.